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The road leading up to 'Infinity War' and what comes next
Singapore hosted a pop culture event of unprecedented scale: a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet members of the Avengers cast before the April 25 release of the highly-anticipated “Infinity War”.
Billed as a “Red Carpet Fan Event”, Robert Downey, Jr. (“Iron Man”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“Doctor Strange”), and Karen Gillan (“Guardians of the Galaxy’s” Nebula), along with executive producer Trinh Tran and director Joe Russo (“Civil War”) made an appearance much to the delight of the 50-strong Philippine contingent, with similar huge groups from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Similar to the tantalizing and much-talked about Black Panther premiere earlier this year, the Singapore event’s titular carpet turned out to be purple and ran along the length of the main stage, overlooking Marina Bay with a stunning view of the Singapore skyline.
On the other side of the carpet, media agencies from all over the world had their own sections, where they could cover the event and do impromptu interviews as the stars walked past.
RELATED: Pinoy Marvel enthusiasts assemble at 'Avengers: Infinity War' fan's day event
As the sun began to set on the Marina Bay Sands event complex, one couldn’t help but reflect on how surreal it all was, almost like an out-of-body experience. It seemed impossible to believe that this was all happening, yet here we were, at a major Hollywood event – a film premiere in all but name – having somehow been selected to stand at ground zero.
As recently as ten years ago, this would have been impossible.
Heroes on the big screen
Given the current success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), younger fans may find it impossible to imagine a time when superhero films – and the comics on which they were originally based – weren’t popular.
While films like “Superman the Movie” (1978) and “Batman” (1989) were critical and financial successes, inferior sequels had pretty much killed comic book movies’ momentum. But things began to turn around by the late '90s and early '00s.
Following the tentative steps of “Blade” (1998) and “X-Men” (2000), it can be argued that the current superhero movie renaissance began in earnest with 2002’s “Spider-Man”.
Helmed by Sam Raimi (“The Evil Dead”), the director’s conscious decision to follow “Superman The Movie’s” narrative template, while remaining faithful to the Marvel comics he had grown up reading made the film a blockbuster. By sticking to his guns, Raimi proved that audiences (and, by extension, studios) were finally ready for superhero movies that weren’t ashamed of their source material.
The road to the MCU
With Spider-Man and X-Men sequels ruling the box office in the early 2000s, Marvel Comics found themselves at an impasse: their characters were more popular than ever, but having their films made by third-party studios meant that the publisher saw next to nothing of the profits.
And so the decision to undertake a massive gamble was made: Marvel would form their own studio. But with their most popular heroes all leased out to third party studios, Marvel could only work with the second-tier characters they had left.
First up: A billionaire genius playboy philanthropist with a suit of armor that nobody outside of a comic book shop had ever heard of. Directed with wit and verve by Jon Favreau (“Zathura”), 2008’s “Iron Man” was a smash hit, effectively reinstating Robert Downey, Jr.’s as an A-list star and vindicating the Marvel House of Ideas in the process.
"Iron Man” was an exhilarating film, made all the more momentous by its tantalizing post-credits tease of a larger universe. From that point, moviegoers all over the world were on the same page, eagerly awaiting the release of the next Marvel film.
Ten years, 18 hit films, and a billion-dollar purchase by the Walt Disney Company later, the MCU is now the biggest ongoing franchise on the planet.
Superhero Encounter
The first MCU celebs to hit the carpet were Trinh Tran and director Joe Russo, who graciously signed autographs and posed for as many selfies as he could manage as he made his way down.
Next up was Gillan, whose visible delight at the reception made the experience entirely worth it. Making her way down the carpet, she would happily take fans’ preferred phones and snap selfies with them.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s arrival was met with raucous cheers as the normally reserved star joined Gillan in signing, smiling, and engaging with the crowd.
Of course, the man of the night was Robert Downey, Jr, whose entrance pretty much brought the house down. As the man who, for many, symbolizes the MCU, he didn’t disappoint, entertaining the crowd with his antics, and gamely posing for photos before heading backstage with his castmates.
With all the guests in place, the program could begin in earnest, with filmmakers and actors alike introduced onstage with special effects and pyrotechnic fanfare worthy of rock stars. From there, they crossed over to a smaller, circular stage designed to reveal the Avengers logo when viewed from above.
Once there, the stars engaged in a question and answer session where Downey, Jr. shared that, due to on-set secrecy, none of the actors had actually seen the complete script. For all he knew, Robert said, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye (curiously missing from all promotional materials) could be Thanos!
The event culminated in a light and water show that saw the massive Marina Bay Sands structures bathed in colored lights to resemble the film’s Infinity Stones, while the Avengers logo was projected triumphantly on the hotel itself.
A peek at infinity
Several of us were treated to an extra surprise, getting shuttled to a separate cinema venue where none other than director Joe Russo and producer Trinh Tran welcomed us.
Once the applause died down, the duo apologized for not being able to show us the entire film ahead of its world premiere in Los Angeles, but nevertheless thanked us all for coming to Singapore.
After a request to respect the cast and crew by not posting spoilers, Russo and Tran sat down with the fans to watch twenty minutes from the first half of the film — enough for me to say that the film is looking as epic, entertaining, and fun as any of us could have hoped.
In that darkened theater, we made sure to let the filmmakers know how we felt, laughing, cheering, and gasping in equal measure. For every action beat the Russos threw on the screen, every one-liner, this audience reacted with the familiarity of catching up with old friends. By the time the preview was done, to say that we were hungry for more would be a gross understatement.
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It’s been said that “Infinity War” will change everything we think we know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a statement made all the more ominous by several of the actors’ contracts ending with next year’s film (which was shot simultaneously).
Regardless, no matter what happens, nothing will ever take away the memories of the amazing, incredible, spectacular day that the Marvel Cinematic Universe came to Singapore. — LA, GMA News
